


Legacy of the Xel’naga: The Becoming

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-27
Updated: 2004-06-27
Packaged: 2018-10-07 02:57:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10350858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: Spoilers: "1969", "The Tok’ra", "In the Line of Duty", can’t think of anyother specific onesSeason: Some time between beginning of 3 and somewhere in 4, might becomemore specific as story goes on.Summary: This kind of situation had never been considered before.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Stargate SG-1 fanfiction - Legacy of the Xel’naga: The Becoming

Key:  
* A change in perspective  
\-- Break in time  
**Symbiote thoughts**  
//Host thoughts//  
##Dream##

"P2C 421 is mostly unremarkable." Daniel began as the rest of SG-1, along with General Hammond, sat at the briefing room table.

"Mostly?" Jack pressed.

"MALP and UAV footage showed nearly endless forests. There were no signs of any habitation, save one thing." The archaeologist pressed a button on the remote in his hand and the UAV footage began to play. As Daniel had stated, trees dominated the screen as far as the eye could see. An object, a very large object, jutted out of the sea of plant life. It was difficult to make out the exact size, but one thing was for sure; it was huge. As the unmanned plane continued its route, the object dominated the camera’s view.

It was a gigantic silver pyramid. Green and red glinted on the side of the structure, and even at that distance the pictures that the inlaid gems created were visible. Goa’uld symbiotes.

"Is that what I think it is?" Hammond asked, though there wasn’t any possible doubt.

"It does appear to be a representation of a symbiote." Teal’c affirmed.

"Of course, we won’t know anything for sure until we go there." Daniel added.

"Are we sure it’s safe?"

"Well, sir, there’s no sign of any current habitation. I don’t think anyone’s been there for quite some time." Daniel replied to Hammond’s question.

"Doesn’t mean it’s safe." Jack stated.

"With all due respect, sir, there’s no guarantee that any planet we visit will be safe." Sam commented in Daniel’s favor.

"Alright, you have a go. You have 2 days to see what you can determine about this pyramid and decide if it’s worth continued study." Hammond decided and Daniel was barely able to hold back a big smile.

"Well, you know me, archaeological surveys rank up there with diplomatic missions and mineral surveys. Fun for the whole family." Jack responded, receiving a mildly disapproving glare from the General.

"Dismissed."

*

"This will be the first documented case of any design of the Goa’uld solely featuring a symbiote. There’s always a host or other figures accompanying it, if it’s even depicted at all." Jack rubbed his head wearily at Daniel’s comment. He hadn’t shut up about the pyramid since the briefing, which was about 3 hours ago. Now they were on the planet making the 6-mile trek to the object of his obsession.

Jack knew he should have packed some aspirin.

"So, Teal’c, you’ve never seen anything like this either, have you?" Carter asked.

"I have not, Major Carter. I have never been aware of a Goa’uld pyramid of such dimensions or design." Teal’c responded.

"Yeah, these trees are about how tall?" Daniel pondered.

"50 feet." Jack supplied wearily.

"50 feet and the pyramid looked over 3 times as tall."

Finally, when Jack was sure his head would explode, the forest cleared slightly to reveal the front of the pyramid. A 10-foot wide by 15-foot slab sealed the building. The angle was just right for the sun to be reflected at them, but the light was sufficiently diffused as not to be bothersome.

As they continued closer, writing on the slab became apparent, carved into the metallic surface. Jack craned his neck to look at the height of the pyramid. The green outline of a symbiote with large red eyes rearing back to strike seemed to return his gaze, looking ready to attack at any moment. It was a disturbing image that quickly caused him to avert his eyes.

"Alright, folks. Teal’c and I will secure the immediate area. Carter, you stay with Daniel and see what you can figure out." Jack ordered, retaking control of the situation.

"Yes, sir." Carter responded.

*

Even before Jack or Teal’c had left the immediate vicinity, Daniel was pouring over the large slab. It only took a few moments of looking at the writing to realize something he hadn’t expected.

It wasn’t Goa’uld.

Well, that wasn’t true. Writing in the middle of the door was in Goa’uld, but another language entirely framed it. This alien writing contained no points or straight lines, only loops and gentle curves. He absently wondered if it sounded anything like it looked.

"Something wrong?" Sam asked, obviously having seen the look on his face.

"Some of this isn’t Goa’uld. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before." Daniel admitted.

"Code?" she supplied.

"Could be." But for some reason Daniel thought it was more than that, a completely different language. The General had only given them two days, so he didn’t have much time to figure it out.

*

Sam turned as Colonel O’Neill and Teal’c returned some 45 minutes later.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Nope. Area’s clear. What do you two have?" the Colonel replied.

"The Goa’uld will be easy to translate, but I don’t even know where to begin on this other writing." Daniel responded.

"Excuse me?"

"Daniel found two different writings on the door." Sam elaborated.

"Well, what does the stuff you CAN read say?"

Sam looked over Daniel’s shoulder as he poured over the symbols before him. "It says ‘to reach affinity with the gods one must have knowledge of them.’ And there’s question’s below it."

"A test." Teal’c stated.

"Looks like it. So, what’s it ask?" O’Neill asked.

"Let’s see, the first one asks for the true name of the gods."

"Well that one’s simple, the Goa’uld." Sam responded immediately. "How do you answer?"

"There are raised squares below with symbols on them. I guess I just press the right combination for the answer." Sam noted that the archaeologist gave a questioning glance to the Colonel before actually inputting the answer, having had the lecture about ‘touching things’ many times. But he gave an approving nod and Daniel pressed down the appropriate blocks. There was a click and then the pressed blocks raised back to their normal positions.

"And?" Colonel O’Neill prompted impatiently.

"Well, the next one says ‘what is the first race to be touched by the gods?’" Daniel continued.

"Is it just me or are these questions really easy?" he asked.

"Well, sir, had we come here only a few years ago we wouldn’t have a clue about the second question. Besides, we did only get 2 days to determine the value of this place, so who are we to complain?" Sam responded.

"Well, anyway, we all agree that the answer is the Unas, right?" Daniel decided to check; though it was another obvious answer. After everyone agreed he typed it in.

"Is there not more?" Teal’c inquired when Daniel didn’t state the next question and nothing seemed to be happening.

"No, there’s nothing else but the other writing, and if any more questions are in that, then we’re not getting in." as he concluded, the door began to rumble faintly. There was the sound of metal grating against metal as the door slid into the ceiling, revealing darkness beyond it. The angle of the sun didn’t allow light to penetrate far into the doorway, so only a faint crescent was illuminated.

"Guess that answers that." The Colonel stated, instinctively raising his gun and switching on the mounted light. "Carter?"

Sam didn’t need elaboration and quickly checked her instruments. No radiation of any kind was evident. "It’s all clear, sir. I’m not picking up anything."

At her assurance he continued inside, Teal’c behind him and Sam lifting her MP-5 to enter before Daniel. At first, the only thing they knew was that the room was huge. Their flashlights couldn’t penetrate to find any of the walls. The ceiling also rose above the power of their artificial lights. Daniel pulled out one of the lantern lights that he had brought for just this purpose and switched it on. A large circle around them became visible to show that the room was as Spartan as it was large. On the sidewalls they found 2 doorways close to the front of the pyramid. Around them the smooth walls were adorned with the unknown writing.

*

"So, campers, which way?" Jack asked. He had to wonder if the whole pyramid was as empty as this room.

"If we split up, we can scout this place twice as fast." Daniel supplied.

"And twice as many things can go wrong." He countered.

"I have to agree with Daniel on this one, sir. There’s no indication that there’s any danger here whatsoever." Carter responded.

Jack didn’t like it when he was ganged up on. "Teal’c, don’t tell me you’re with them." He pleaded.

"In fact, I do agree with Major Carter’s and Daniel Jackson’s assessment, O’Neill." The jaffa replied.

They were right; there was nothing apparent to worry about. By all accounts this place had been abandoned for a long time. The lack of anything in the room certainly went a way in proving such an assertion.

"Fine," he acquiesced, "Carter and Teal’c you’ll check out the left door. Daniel and I’ll go the other way. Keep in contact, check-in every half-hour. Got it?"

A round of assents came in reply. As Teal’c and Carter made their way through the doorway, Jack had to resist the urge to tell them to be careful. They already knew that and it wouldn’t do to give off an obsessive mother hen air, even if that was what he was deep down.

*

Teal’c followed Major Carter down the relatively narrow corridor. It was barely wide enough to take two people shoulder to shoulder, absurd proportions after the spacious room that had connected to it. The path had bent right immediately, leading them toward the rear of the pyramid. He held a flashlight in one hand along with his staff weapon, but there was nothing to illuminate but smooth walls and the back of his companion.

"I wonder what was, or still is, in here that anyone would think they had to build a construct this large to house it." Major Carter mused.

"Indeed." Teal’c replied, his tone showing that he not only agreed with her thoughts, but also had been thinking the same thing himself. They had already found one huge room with nothing in it, so it seemed quite possible that whatever had been in here might not be anymore. Or it could simply be hidden further into the building. They’d find out either way, that much Teal’c knew.

There wasn’t anything else to say; at least that was important, so they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Their cautious pace made the corridor seem never ending. In the silence, the clicking of their boots on the metallic floor reverberated softly.

Slow pace or not, though, the corridor went on a long ways.

*

Six. They were on their sixth left. Six turns and 2 check-ins later and the narrow hallway still showed no sign of stopping, and a right was looking pretty bleak too. Jack enjoyed a good NASCAR race from time to time, but this was just ridiculous.

The fact that he was on foot might have something to do with it.

"This had better be worth it." He groused.

"I don’t have any control over what we’re going to find, Jack, so would you just be quiet." Daniel sighed, this having not been the first time during their leftuitous turning that Jack had complained or otherwise annoyed the archaeologist. At one point he had imitated the cars that he was reminded of, making shifting noises as they walked down the echoing corridor.

Needless to say it hadn’t taken Daniel long to spin around and tell Jack in no uncertain terms to shut up. Jack had truly feared for his life for a moment... not that it had stopped him for long.

Up to eight now. Surely it wouldn’t be much longer before they’d run out of turns. Jack definitely noticed how the straights had been getting progressively shorter, though they were still far too long for his liking.

"Colonel O’Neill, this is Carter." Jack heard the message issue from his radio along with moderate static.

Pressing down the button he responded. "Yeah, what is it?" She didn’t sound like they were in any danger, for which he gave an inaudible sigh of relief.

"We found a ladder embedded into the wall, sir. The corridor we’ve been following’s hit a dead end." From what he had gathered from the check-ins the corridor he and Daniel were following spiraled in towards the center of the pyramid while the one Carter and Teal’c were following wrapped around that. He guessed that they had reached the front of the pyramid.

"Copy that. Keep your heads up." He responded, feeling a little jealous. They got stairs and all he got were more turns. What, nine or ten now? Damn, he lost count.

"Are we there yet?" Jack whined. If he had to be miserable then Daniel could suffer with him.

"Jaaack!" Daniel pleaded, throwing his arms up in defeat.

"Well Danny, how many turns do they expect us to put up with. A man could go insane." He thought he heard Daniel mumble in agreement, something about it happening already.

But the next turn, instead of continuing on into another androgynous corridor, opened up into a room. They entered before the surprise of actually finding something stopped them in their tracks. Apparently there was some form of automatic lighting, diffused yellow suddenly poured down from the ceiling. The soft light was just able to illuminate the room, a fair size, but still only about half as large as the antechamber they had come across in the beginning. Also unlike that room, the walls were covered in writing. Standing out in the center of the room was a hub; one that looked suspiciously like a huge symbiote head, mouth open and seemingly waiting to pounce on anyone who might stand below it. Red gems reflected the off color lighting, mimicking the eyes of the creature it resembled.

"Wow." Was all that Daniel could say, and Jack had to agree. This was definitely a ‘wow’. As Daniel made his way to one of the walls, Jack saw his face drop.

"What is it?"

"All this writing is the other language. I’ll have to get rubbings and recordings and bring it back to the SGC to decipher." The archaeologist replied, almost whining.

The less time they actually had to spend here, the better. At least that’s how Jack saw it. Even so, he tried hard to keep the joy the statement gave him from showing.

*

Sam continued down the straight corridor that the ladder had brought her and Teal’c to. All of this useless space had her wondering; why didn’t they use more of the room in this place than just fill it with corridors and turns? Was there even anything here?

If this was all one giant practical joke, she swore she was going to kill someone.

After an eternity they finally got to the end of the corridor, which turned right. Thankfully, instead of entering another corridor it opened up into a room. A giant one by the looks; even larger than the one that had been on the first floor. At first she thought there was nothing to see, at least without more light, but a faint glow from the other side caught her eye. Squinting, she thought it looked like a rippling rainbow.

"Teal’c, do you see that?"

"I do, Major Carter." He affirmed. Their flashlights illuminated nothing else as they made their way towards the source of the light. It took on shape and form as they stepped closer. Before them stood a large statue, about 20 feet at its highest point. It was a Goa’uld symbiote made out of some sort of iridescent material, the different colors continually rippling slowly across the surface. The symbiote was curled up with its head reared back and mouth opened.

"Holy Hannah." Sam exclaimed as she walked around the statue, the light playing on her face. It was definitely like nothing she had seen before. Teal’c simply stood where he was as she absorbed herself in the statue.

She barely noticed the dazed feeling that washed over her as her hand seemed to reach towards the statue of its own accord. The surface was cool beneath her palm and smooth like polished stone. Sam stood like that for several moments, unable to do anything else.

Excruciating pain washed over her so quickly that, at first she didn’t even realize she was screaming.

*

"Major Carter!" Teal’c rushed forward and grabbed her as she collapsed to the floor, body straining in agony. She didn’t make any indication that she even heard him or acknowledged his presence, simply screaming as much as air intake would allow.

He didn’t know what to do, or even what was happening. His first thought was to get her away from the statue, as it had been that that had apparently started this. Teal’c lifted her up into his arms, but before he could go anywhere she was simply gone. The room became eerily silent. All that remained was her clothing and equipment.

The silence was only broken by a pair of boots, MP-5, and pack clattering against the floor. Her clothes draped across his arms where he had been holding her.

It was almost half a minute before Teal’c was able to get over the shock. "Major Carter?" He tried, not really expecting an answer, but hoping to get some sort of clue as to what had just happened.

There was nothing. The statue continued to glow on as if nothing had occurred, mocking the jaffa who stood looking at the clothing before him in bewilderment.

*

Daniel recorded the writing before him, using one of the lanterns to get a better picture. The walls were completely covered in the writing, he only wished he knew what it said.

"O’Neill!" Though the message was full of static, interference from all of the metal between them, Daniel could hear the agitation in Teal’c’s single word. By the look on Jack’s face he had heard it too.

"I hear ya, Teal’c." Jack quickly replied.

"Major Carter has vanished."

"What?" Jack immediately asked. Vanished? Daniel could only look on in confusion.

"There is a large glowing statue here. Major Carter touched it and appeared to suffer great pain. She has disappeared, but her clothing and equipment remain." Daniel’s eyes opened even wider than they had been before. Disappeared? Vanished? To where? Why?

"Are you sure she’s not up there somewhere?" Jack finally managed.

"I have searched the room most thoroughly. There are no signs of passage to hidden compartments nor any other sign of a place where Major Carter may be." Teal’c replied.

Jack thought about the information for a moment. "Ok, come down here, and bring her weapons, we don’t want anyone to bite us in the butt with them. Maybe we can find something here. We’ll go over the room we found in the meantime."

"I will be there shortly." Teal’c assured.

Daniel watched as Jack suddenly stopped short as he turned around to face the archaeologist. He was even more confused when the man brought up his gun.

"Jack?" he questioned. Jack motioned behind him with his eyes and Daniel turned around in response. A panel from the wall had slid away without either of them noticing. A large figure walked out from the dark recesses causing Daniel to quickly distance himself. The alien only resembled a human in the most basic of form. It stood nearly 7 feet tall, with blood red skin. Thin tendrils fell from its head like hair, lightly brushing its shoulders. Where humans only had 2 arms, this creature had another pair below the first. Two thick straps ran down both shoulders to a sort of kilt that was a deep blue. Its legs were shaped like a dog’s more than a human’s, with sharp talons emanating from its short feet.

"Izor chu." The creature stated in a deep voice.

"Daniel?" Jack prompted.

"I have no idea. It’s probably the same language I can’t decipher." The archaeologist shot back.

"Well, try something!"

Daniel didn’t even know where to begin. The language had no roots to anything from Earth; this creature was definitely not a descendant of their planet. But he had to try something before this got ugly. "Um, hi. We’re peaceful explorers from a planet called Earth. Can you understand us?"

"Goga Jerula, erat nolan tel." Despite having a gun aimed at it, and maybe it didn’t recognize it as the weapon it was, the creature stood tall and looked at them fearlessly. Well, it could be perfectly plausible that its species didn’t have emotions, or show them in the same way as humans, so he could have been totally wrong with his assessment.

"Jeez, Danny, I coulda done that!" Jack quipped.

"Sorry! I have no idea how to even begin." Daniel stated in frustration.

"Nok tananak!" the alien took a hulking step forward, its claws clicking on the stone floor. They both instinctively took a step backwards and Jack adjusted his weapon.

Daniel suddenly had an idea. "Kree, harak shel!"

He definitely got the creature’s attention. It eyed him quizzically. "Torak ma’shel Goa’uld?"

"Daniel?" Jack questioned.

"Um, it just occurred to me that there was Goa’uld writing as well as the other stuff, so I guessed that maybe it could speak that too. Guess I was right." Daniel replied excitedly.

"And what did you two just say?"

"I told it we were peaceful, and it asked if we were Goa’uld." Daniel turned to address the creature. "(We are not.)"

"(How, then, do you know the language of the gods?)"

"(I learned it on our travels.)"

"(You have accompanied the Chosen One?)"

"(What do you mean?)" Jack saw the puzzled look on Daniel’s face and returned it, but was ignored. Daniel was more interested in figuring out what this creature was talking about.

"(The Chosen One is here, for I have been awakened. Why are you humans here?)"

"(We found this place while exploring. It looked abandoned so we decided to study this place. I don’t know what you mean by chosen one, but our friend has disappeared. Will you help us find her?)"

"(Disappeared? At the altar to the gods?)" It questioned.

"(If that is the statue on the second level, then yes.)"

"(You fools! I am to be the next High Councilor of my people! I have been awaiting here since the 3rd age of the Yessuk to take my place when the Chosen One is prepared!)" Its clouded yellow eyes flared in anger, a menacing growl escaping around its words.

"(We intended no harm. Please, what has happened to our friend?)" Daniel didn’t like the sound of this.

"(Your friend is undergoing the transformation. Together with the Chosen One we arise to the power of the gods. Only then would I be fit to rule. I cannot be returned to the chamber after being awakened! You have ruined everything!)" After a pause it continued in a more sedate tone, "(Your friend will have to suffice.)" Gods. Transformation. Daniel still didn’t quite understand it. But before he could ask more questions, there was a deep hum of power. Turning to the source, they saw the eyes of the Goa’uld on the hub were glowing red.

The alien began its way to the figure.

"JACK!" Daniel shouted. All he knew was that they had to stop it. In response to Daniel’s desperate tone, his soldier-sense screaming, Jack quickly turned around and fired several rounds into the creature. The shots tore into its chest but the creature continued as black blood oozed down from its wounds. He fired again, and the creature slowed, but still progressed towards the hub.

The thwump of a staff weapon blast shot through the air, hitting the alien in the face. It immediately fell to the ground, only a few feet from the hub it had tried to reach. Overwhelmed with the moment, they all stared at the hopefully dead alien before them.

"Teal’c, you made it here fast." Jack commented, keeping his eye on the creature. Even though all the skin on its face had been melted away, he wasn’t entirely sure it was dead. Daniel couldn’t blame him, especially not after all of the bullets it had taken.

"I endeavored to reach your location with all haste." Teal’c commented, MP-5 sling across one shoulder haphazardly, and Daniel could see that the jaffa was breathing rather heavily. He must have run the whole way there.

*

"So, what was that all about?" Jack asked. He hadn’t understood a word Daniel or the creature had said. It had all been Gould to him, literally and figuratively. The thing hadn’t been trying to attack them, though in the heat of the moment he didn’t have time to register that fact, it looked like it was going to pass them by. He wanted to know what it found so important and why Daniel was so freaked about it.

"I’m not entirely sure. I asked it to help us find Sam, and it got angry when it learned what happened to her. It talked about a Chosen One that would transform and together they’d rule their people with the power of the gods. It had said that she would suffice; I don’t know what he meant exactly but it didn’t sound good." Jack tried to wrap his head around all that Daniel had told him, but the rushed pace and mangled words made it difficult.

"I believe that this Chosen One of which you speak is transformed into a symbiote." Teal’c finally stated after a few moments.

"What? Why do you say that?" Jack knew there was Gould influence in this place, the hub and the pictures on the outside were proof enough of that, but actually making themselves into snakes? Who would be that stupid? And who would be even stupider to put one in their head?

"The statue that Major Carter and I encountered was of a Goa’uld symbiote. It is most likely that this is what the creature had been referring to."

"It does make sense." Daniel admitted meekly. If Jack thought about it, it did make sense. But he didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t even want to acknowledge it as a possibility.

"If you’re going to tell me that Carter has just been turned into a snake, then save your breath." No way, no how. She was alive. She was HUMAN. Locked in some dark room in here somewhere, but still herself.

He knew instinctively that he was wrong, but it didn’t stop him from trying to believe it.

"It is in fact what has been said." Teal’c responded plainly, not allowing Jack to maintain his illusion for very long.

"Jack, we need to do something." Daniel insisted.

"Like what?" What did he want them to do? What could they do?

"Well, the alien was trying to get to the hub over there. Maybe the eyes mean that it’s ready." Daniel shrugged.

"Ready for what?" ‘Please don’t say what I think you’re going to.’ Jack pleaded silently.

"A host." Teal’c finished for him.

Jack didn’t know what to say, and a long silence ensued. This so was not happening.

"I’ll do it." Daniel finally said.

"NO!" Jack immediately replied, "Like hell you will!"

He wasn’t about to let one of his team get a snake in the neck. What if it wasn’t Carter? What if it was a Goa’uld? What if the machine had an entirely different purpose?

"I will remove my prim’ta and offer myself to host Major Carter." Teal’c added.

"No one’s going to do a damn thing! We have no idea what that thing does. Maybe that thing lied to us or was lied to itself. I am not going to let either of you do something stupid." He may be outnumbered 2 to 1, but Jack held himself firm, or at least tried to.

"Ok then, Jack, where do you think Sam is?" Daniel asked in annoyance.

"If I knew that then we’d have freed her by now!" he shot back defensively.

"Where else could she be? That alien was pretty intent upon reaching that hub, the evidence can’t be ignored. We don’t know how long Sam can survive while we sit here arguing. We need to help her." Daniel insisted.

"Daniel." Jack warned tiredly. All of the proof led to that conclusion, and Jack knew he couldn’t fight it forever. How much he didn’t want it to be true didn’t matter, because it was. It didn’t mean he liked the situation any better. "I’ll do it." If anyone was going to have god knows what happen to them because of that machine, he’d be damned if he let one of his team do it.

"No, Jack. I think it’s best if I were to. It might go better at the SGC if you’re there to smooth things over. Besides, if anything goes wrong, you two would be best equipped to handle it." ‘Yeah, like if it wasn’t Sam that got stuck in his head, if that was even the purpose of the machine, he thought wryly. He really didn’t relish the thought of having to hurt or even kill his best friend. But, unfortunately, Daniel did have a point. If he or Teal’c got a snake in the head, they would be hard to stop. Stopping Daniel would be difficult too, though, but in a much different way.

"You’d better know what you’re doing." Is all Jack said in reply. He couldn’t believe he was actually going along with this. It was, by far, the stupidest thing they had ever done. They knew absolutely nothing about that machine. He could be condemning Daniel to something far worse than death. Carter could have been dead from the moment she disappeared. But, the chance that she was alive, and very likely in that device, still existed, and as he always said, ‘no one gets left behind’.

As Daniel turned towards the hub, Teal’c pulled out a zat and primed it. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, but he knew that, like him, Teal’c would be prepared. Even so, it was almost more than Jack could manage to quell the voice in his head that was shouting what a bad idea this was. It WAS a bad idea, but, then again, so might be doing nothing.

*

Daniel was scared. It may be Sam, or at least that’s what they all hoped at this point, but he was still going to get a snake... a symbiote, he corrected, in his head. At this point he didn’t doubt that particular part of the device’s function, he was just a little worried that he might not get the roommate he had been planning on. An experience he had not yet been through, he had only the testaments of those around him who had been through it. Unfortunately, he could think of very few instances where the turnout had been in any way pleasant.

To top everything off, Sam probably had no idea what was going on. She’d suddenly wake up very much not herself, and he could only imagine what that might lead to. Would she utterly panic? Would he be able to stop her if that was the case? Of course, all this was assuming that he was getting Sam implanted in his head. Absently, he wondered how the machine would do such a thing. 

Daniel figured he had probably been standing there for several moments. As much as the possible outcomes of what he was about to do disturbed him, Daniel had to do it. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to Sam because he didn’t want to take a chance. Worrying that if he waited any longer Jack might change his mind, he took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself for what was to come.

"Well, here goes nothing." Daniel stated as he continued to the edge of the hub. The Gould head cleared his height by several feet, and Daniel took several moments to stare up into the dark mouth. The figure was just a bit too lifelike for his comfort, the fangs seeming to glisten with saliva, hungering for his approach. The floor was lower beneath the hub, creating a slant that dropped several inches. Jack brought up his weapon as Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and then stepped in.

A bright white light flowing down from the hub was accompanied by the oscillating hum of energy discharging. The beam was warm, relaxing his taught muscles. A tingling sensation danced across his skin as Daniel remained in the beam. Not at all unpleasant, he began to wonder just what was happening when the pleasant warmth became insufferable heat. Though the sensations were brutal, he found that he was unable to move or otherwise make known his discomfort. It lasted over a minute before suddenly turning off. Daniel remained motionless for several moments before collapsing to the floor.

*

"Shit!" Jack immediately cursed as he ran forward. He pulled Daniel out from beneath the menacing fangs, deciding it may not be wise to remain underneath them any longer than necessary. Then he checked for a pulse, shallow and rapid, but there, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was alive, at least. The last part he dreaded the most. He’d soon learn whether or not they had potentially saved Carter or made the biggest mistake of all-time. Reluctantly, Jack ran his hand along the back of Daniel’s neck.

The telltale bulge was more than evident.

Though there was still no proof either way, the first thing Jack thought was if there was now a Gould in Daniel, what might happen? Would it wake up and attack? Do the annoying ‘I’m a god, so sit a moment while I mock you incessantly’ bit that had been old the first time they had encountered it? Or, would it try to trick them? It would have access to Daniel’s thoughts, and know what they would be expecting... and hoping.

Damn. Did he already mention what a bad idea this had been?

Teal’c didn’t say anything, his own expression revealing that he too was waiting to see what would happen. If he had just let Daniel take a Gould in the head, Jack didn’t know what he would do. But they needed him to wake up before they could find anything out.

*

Consciousness pulled at her, taking her from the dark fog that had enveloped her. She tried to fight it. Pain. She remembered pain before, and she didn’t want to find out if it was still there.

But the pull was incessant. Sam was assailed by feelings. Sensations flooded over her, some completely indescribable. Things she had never felt before. So much information, too much for her mind to sort out, much less comprehend. It got to the point where the overload caused her physical pain, different, but nearly as intense as what she had felt before.

‘Not again.’

She screamed. Her body flailed madly as though she had no control of it, but she hurt too much for any of it to register. A hand came to rest on her shoulder. Sam only noticed this because the warmth distracted her just the minutest amount, seeming to ease the pain slightly.

"Major Carter?" she made out Teal’c’s voice calling her, sounding as if he had been doing so for quite a while. The question in his voice seemed to ask more than just her wellbeing, but she couldn’t figure out what.

Sam had stopped screaming, but was contorted against the pain that still assailed her. It was easing off incrementally, but far too slowly for her liking. "Hurts." She managed to gasp.

She froze, her eyes snapping open. Did she just hear what she thought she did? Teal’c kneeled above her, she could make out his dark frame. Why couldn’t she focus on him? His features were blurred and no matter what she did, he remained that way.

"Teal’c?" the deep resonance in her voice was unmistakable, in no way distinguishable as her own. This only made her more frantic, her ears weren’t deceiving her. "What’s going on? Why can’t I see? What’s wrong with me? What’s happening?"

She thought she spotted the Colonel several feet away, the gray in his hair allowing her to distinguish it as him. He was looking at her, but she couldn’t make out his expression. If she had to guess, though, she’d say it was pensive. Guarded, she clarified. "Colonel? Where’s Daniel?" she asked, trying to ignore how WRONG her voice was. Sam tried to sit up, but her coordination was completely missing, on top of Teal’c gently holding her down.

"Please try to calm yourself." Teal’c stated in a gentle tone, his hand rubbing her shoulder almost imperceptibly. She did as he bade, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

//Sam.// Her eyes shot open again. It may have been a thought, but the ‘voice’ was familiar.

"Daniel?" No. She couldn’t believe it.

"Is Daniel Jackson well?" Teal’c asked, concern obvious in his tone.

"What’s happened to me?" her question was almost a whisper, but the dual tones were still audible, making her cringe. It couldn’t be. It just wasn’t possible.

//The statue changed you.// Daniel tried to comfort her, but it didn’t matter. What he was saying was too disturbing for anything to soften the blow. He was wrong; he had to be.

"No!" she denied aloud, struggling against Teal’c. At her thrashing and kicking he wrapped his arms around her upper body and held her in a sitting position, pinning her arms to her chest.

"Major Carter, you must refrain from this destructive behavior."

"You’re wrong, I’m me! I… I’m not… I’m not, I’m me!" she couldn’t say the name. Speaking it, even in denial, would have been too much.

Because it was true.

Tears streamed down her face. Daniel was in there, making it impossible to deny.

//It’s ok, Sam.//

"No, it’s not! Oh, god." Passing the stages of outright denial Sam could only think of the horror. She was… she still couldn’t say it or even think it, but knew that it was true. 

Inside Daniel. Using his body. Taking what wasn’t hers. Of course he could hear her thoughts, and if she weren’t so distraught, she could have done the same. He tried to tell her otherwise, but Sam wouldn’t listen. She turned to the Colonel, convinced by some warped reasoning of her mind that she had let him down. "I’m sorry, sir. I’m so sorry."

Her apologies died into uncontrollable sobs, and throughout it all he didn’t say a thing, merely shifting uncomfortably and lowering his eyes.

*

Jack didn’t know what to say. He was reluctant to offer any support or tip his hand if it really wasn’t Carter in there. She couldn’t be a snake, she wasn’t a snake. Even so, the distressed tone, while being extremely disturbing as it was a parasite inside of Daniel as evidenced by the dual tones, seemed to go right for his gut, threatening to double him over with the force. 'God, if it wasn’t Carter', he thought, 'the thing sure could act.'

*

**He hates me.** Her thoughts cut Daniel even though they were directed at someone else.

//Sam, that’s not true.// he tried to tell her. It was certainly no secret that Jack was far from open-minded when it came to the whole symbiote thing, but Daniel couldn’t see his friend suddenly hating Sam for it. He’d be uncomfortable, surely, but far from anything bordering hate. Sam, however, couldn’t, or wouldn’t see his reasoning, her current situation screwing with her perspective.

His eyes? Her eyes? He wasn’t sure what to call them, and for the moment decided it wasn’t an important question. Either way, they were shut as she cried against Teal’c’s chest.

"Major Carter, may we speak to Daniel Jackson?" He was glad that Teal’c was taking charge of the situation, since Jack had apparently decided to sit on the sidelines.

She tensed momentarily, and Daniel felt her revulsion at such a question even being necessary, that she had to be asked to talk to him. The revulsion became remorse as she realized she didn’t even have the slightest clue of how to go about it. "I don’t know how."

//It’s ok, just calm down and we’ll figure it out.//

"Ok." She replied, and Daniel could make out Teal’c’s puzzled expression, slightly out of focus without his glasses. He had forgotten for a moment that they could only hear what she spoke aloud.

//Try stepping back.// He felt her try to pull back, but so many thoughts were racing through her head he doubted that she could concentrate on much of anything.

"It’s not working!" Sam cried out in frustration. She needed to settle down before they could do anything constructive.

//Calm down, it’s ok. Clear your mind. Just try to focus.// he tried to think tranquil, sedate, thoughts, which basically meant that he wasn’t thinking.

Daniel could feel everything. He felt Sam’s guilt fuel her to abandon the thoughts she had been having. He felt her mind blank, like him, attaining calm only by stopping all thought. Then he felt her fall. There was no other way to describe it. Sam collapsed into a tiny vessel neither had been aware of previously, a completely foreign body that held no relation to the form she once had.

He was about to speak, but he felt her panic. She was trapped, or that’s what her mind supplied for her. His flesh surrounded her, pressing her firmly against his spine. Neither of them had been prepared for this, though someone should have thought of it. Going from control of a body that was not unlike what she was used to, to all of a sudden being confined in a very small, and very alien, one, couldn’t possibly be an easy experience for someone who had never done it before. Instinctively Sam began to struggle against the prison that held her. God, it hurt. Daniel gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut. Sam was too distraught to feel his pain, but he could feel what she was also doing to herself. The writhing pulled at tendrils that had been threaded into his brain, something he tried not to think too hard about.

"Daniel?" Jack finally managed to speak, his words laced with urgency. Aside from asking the obvious question of him being all right, there was a tone in his voice that held alternative meanings. Daniel realized immediately; Jack wasn’t sure it was him. His behavior was making more sense now, there was still doubt in his mind as to whether or not it was Sam, or something else, in him. It seemed implausible, how could anyone think this kind of reaction could be faked?

"It’s ok, calm down. You’re alright, Sam." Daniel spoke aloud as he tried to sooth Sam. He brought a hand up to his neck, Teal’c having loosened his grip, and gently rubbed the nape, partly to ease the pain, and partly to remind Sam that he was still there, even though she could still hear him and he her. He could feel her wriggling beneath his hand, the flutter just a bit disconcerting.

Slowly she stopped as realization dawned on her, the pain and potential harm she had caused him freezing all movement. **I’m sorry, Daniel.**

//It’s ok. You weren’t ready for it; I wasn’t ready for it. Nothing to apologize about.//

He turned to Jack, Daniel’s face loosing the soft expression he had taken while talking with Sam, instead lending itself more towards a hopeful appearance. "It’s me, Jack. It’s us." he tried, hoping that the assurance would be enough. The words caused Jack to stiffen up noticeably. He wasn’t going to be so easily convinced, and Daniel didn’t have a clue what he could do to prove it to him.

"Daniel Jackson, is all well?" Teal’c interrupted, no doubt reading into his intentions.

"All things considered, we’re ok." He glanced at Jack, trying to get him to understand. Jack turned his head away.

**Daniel.** Sam pleaded, and something in her thoughts told him that she didn’t really want Jack to know. Didn’t want to be put under the label that he so despised.

//He should know that it’s us.// He insisted silently.

**Just leave it, ok?** He agreed; only because that was what she wanted. It would have to wait anyway, since he didn’t seem to be biting.

"What is our course of action, O’Neill?" Teal’c prompted. Daniel watched as it took a few moments for Jack to gather himself together.

"You two able to walk?" he asked Daniel, his voice deadpan, very guarded.

"I think we can manage." Daniel shot back in an equally even tone. He could understand the man’s reluctance, to a degree, but even so, it was starting to wear on him. Couldn’t he see that there was no possible way that a Gould could pull off such a deception; they’d have been in too much control from the beginning, and it would have taken precious time to search his mind and find out how it was expected to act.

"Alright," Jack checked his watch, "it’s going to get dark soon if it hasn’t already, so we’ll camp outside and return to the SGC in the morning."

Jack made his way out of the room, leaving Teal’c to help Daniel and Sam.

"I can’t believe him!" Daniel commented as Teal’c helped him stand up, though thankfully he noticed he didn’t need it.

"He is most disturbed by the situation."

"But, it IS us! You believe me, right, Teal’c?" He felt her uneasiness at the question. She thought about the event that had put her in their current situation and Daniel watched with her as the flowing light of the statue seemed to fog over her mind.

//You couldn’t help yourself, and you couldn’t have known anything would happen, much less this.//

**It’s offworld, Daniel. Things always do SOMETHING.** her response held no humor, just a statement of fact.

"I do, Daniel Jackson." Teal’c replied, oblivious to their inner discussion. "I believe that I may now return these to you." Teal’c held out his glasses and Daniel took them and put them on. Everything was back in focus and for that he was grateful. Fuzzy images quickly lost their appeal.

Before they could make it to the door, Daniel’s eyes fell on the dead alien. His mind immediately flashed to the memory of it rushing towards the hub, an event that held even more desperation than before, because now he knew exactly what was going to happen. As he thought about it, Sam agreed that she didn’t want to know what waking up in a completely alien body like that would have been like. As if it wasn’t weird enough already.

**You should have left me here, found another way.**

//Sam, we have no idea exactly how this device works. For all we knew, you could have been killed at any time if you stayed wherever you were. And don’t you dare think like that, I much prefer this arrangement to you being dead.//

He meant what he told her, and she knew.

*

He did believe that it was, indeed, Daniel Jackson and Major Carter who now stood before him. Of that Teal’c had no doubt. Even as O’Neill had pulled the man from under the device he had a sure feeling, Major Carter’s reaction upon waking only served to solidify the feeling into knowledge. It was unfortunate that Colonel O’Neill would not see what was so blatantly obvious to him. At every implantation he had been a witness to the Goa’uld had control of the host almost instantly, there had never been any confusion, on the creatures part, only calm and collected dominance. If a Goa’uld had been placed inside of Daniel Jackson, then Teal’c had no doubt in it’s mind there would have been the same control in the beginning, before the creature would have been able to figure out the role it should play.

Teal’c followed Daniel Jackson silently. He had no doubt that he and Major Carter were talking with their minds, most likely about the current situation. The stoic jaffa was content to remain silent, not wanting to intrude on anything. He couldn’t help but be amazed at how well they appeared to be adapting to the new arrangement. He only wished it wasn’t necessary.

The fault was his. Teal’c knew that he should have been more vigilant; he shouldn’t have let Major Carter approach the statue so carelessly. There had to have been a way that he could have realistically prevented this, but nothing came to mind. It had only been a statue, albeit a most disturbing one. How could anyone be expected to see a danger in such an object? And, yet, he still expected it of himself.

The whole walk out of the pyramid, he didn’t catch sight of O’Neill. There was apparently no danger, as they had all traversed these halls before, but it was still negligent of the commander to effectively abandon his team like that. This behavior would need to end, Teal’c was resolute on that fact.

When they did reach the exit, the sky was already well on its way to complete darkness. O’Neill had apparently gotten a considerable head start on them, a fire already burning. Colonel O’Neill sat beside it, seemingly mesmerized by the dancing flames.

"O’Neill, I must speak with you." Teal’c announced.

"Later, T. Right now, help me set up the tent." He deflected.

"What about us?" Daniel chimed in.

"Eat." O’Neill replied simply.

"Hey, we can help, ya know!" Daniel shot back indignantly, Sam mentally sighing.

"Be that as it may, it doesn’t take… more than 2 to set up a tent. Besides, we don’t know what kind of side effects there may be, so you should take it easy." He had taken a long pause, debating on whether to say 3 or 4, but Teal’c saw that the obvious conflict with what to say had hurt his friends more than the actual words.

"O’Neill is correct, you should not overexert yourselves until more knowledge is obtained." Teal’c agreed with O’Neill’s reasoning, however. He watched for a moment as Daniel Jackson gave one last look of frustration before sitting down on a rock by the fire. As he and O’Neill made quick work of the tent, he saw that they only picked at the MRE they had selected.

He grabbed Colonel O’Neill as he began to move off. Teal’c wasn’t going to let him get away until he had said his piece.

"Teal’c, I need to go scout the perimeter." O’Neill tried to shrug him off, but Teal’c wouldn’t be dissuaded.

"You will hear me, O’Neill."

"Fine, spill it." Teal’c saw that the man realized there was no way he was going to get out of this, so he stopped struggling.

"Your behavior towards Major Carter and Daniel Jackson must end."

"Teal’c..." he began.

"There is no doubt as to their identity, O’Neill; you must also see this. They are coping with a most strenuous situation, and as such, will require our support. You are yet to provide any."

"It’s all wrong, Teal’c. None of this should have happened. I shouldn’t have split us up."

"Such thoughts do not help anyone. What has transpired is done, blame does not rest with you. What remains is to help them through this and find a means of returning them to their normal state." What Teal’c didn’t say out loud was that the blame rested with him.

With that he let O’Neill go and went to the fire.

*

Jack just stood there for a few minutes, taking in all that Teal’c had told him. The big man was right... about some things. If he dared to consider it, he knew that it was Daniel and Carter in there, the severity of her reaction only went to proving that. It WAS, however, his fault. His poor judgement had led to this situation, even though, if he cared to admit it, he knew that if Teal’c couldn’t have prevented what had happened, then there was no way he could have expected himself to fare any better. How could he force himself on them, though, when he was responsible for them being the way they were? They may not see it that way, but he knew it was true.

Reluctantly, he joined them by the fire. The warning glare, or at least what passed as the jaffa’s equivalent, Teal’c shot him was unmistakable. He sat down on the opposite side of the fire as Carter and Daniel… Carter/Daniel? God, no matter how he said it in his head, it sounded wrong. It was wrong; they shouldn’t have to deal with this.

"What do you think General Hammond will do?" Jack flinched at the dual tones that indicated that a symbiote was talking. He hadn’t been prepared for it, thinking that Daniel was still in the lead. She saw his reaction and shifted uncomfortably, lowering her eyes. Her eyes, or his eyes? Neither sounded quite right, but what else could he call them? It was strange how even though it was Daniel’s body, he could clearly see Carter in the movements she made. Definitely hers, he finally decided.

He probably should apologize, or otherwise tell her it was ok, but he hadn’t a clue what to say. And it wasn’t nearly enough. The only way he could ever truly ask for forgiveness or live with himself was if he got them back to normal. "Don’t know, but he’s never let us down before."

She must have seen the veiled apology for what it was, because her expression softened perceptibly. But he still couldn’t apologize for getting them in this situation; couldn’t ask them to forgive him as he still couldn’t forgive himself. Carter’s eyes showed signs of hope that hadn’t been there before, he only hoped that Hammond really would be true to himself and take it like he thought the General would. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

It was getting dark and he didn’t know how long he could sit there looking at them like this. Every time he was reminded that Daniel had to share his body, a pang of guilt shot through him. "Well, campers, we should catch some shuteye for tomorrow. Teal’c and I will divvy up watches."

"Sir." She immediately protested.

Jack was proud of himself when he didn’t even miss a beat in his reply, mostly by ignoring her tone, lifting a warning finger into the air. "Ah, ah! We don’t know what could happen to you two at any time. Besides, I’m LETTING you skip watch, you should be happy."

"I feel fine, Daniel’s fine. We’re ok." Carter continued.

It just occurred to him that he had 2 geeks ganging up on him, which under any other circumstance would have been a bad thing for his argument. But this situation was much different than the one Daniel had had him in. There was no logical reason for him to let them take watch, something really COULD happen to them. He was settled. "Get some rest, that’s an order."

They definitely weren’t happy about it, but quickly realized they weren’t going to win this one. Jack decided that they would split it up into 3 watches, and managed to get Teal’c to take the middle one while he took the beginning and ending watch. Figuring the less time he was around Daniel and Carter to remind them of what he had done, the better. Jack couldn’t think of a better solution. He was only shocked that Teal’c hadn’t fought against it more for equal times, or insisted upon taking the longer portion himself. For that much he could be glad, at least. Teal’c must’ve understood his need for some privacy. Gave him plenty of time to think.

As Carter and Daniel filed into the tent, Teal’c deciding to give both Jack and them some free time by going into the woods, Jack let his mind loose. Those that didn’t know him might actually believe that he was as smart as he pretended to be, which wasn’t very. But those that had been around him long enough knew the defense mechanism for what it was. He was a soldier, Black Ops trained, and quicker than many might give him credit for. Being underestimated was always a plus in his line of work; enemies would get sloppy and you JUST might survive the mission.

Right now all of this brainpower was focussed on the problem at hand. The immediate issue was returning to the SGC. This kind of situation had never been considered before. Sure, they were all more than aware of the possibility of getting snaked, but having someone turn into one, and THEN getting a snake in the head was probably never even thought up. Who’d have thought that they’d come across people who would actually WANT to do that to themselves, become eternal prisoners in their own body? Definitely not something he’d ever want to do, or expect anyone with an ounce of intelligence to, either.

Shaking off those thoughts, they weren’t going to be productive in helping him to deal with Hammond’s reaction to this, he returned to the matter at hand. How could he possibly tell the General what had happened. ‘Hello, sir, nice weather we’re having. Did I mention that right now Carter’s holed up in Daniel’s brain?’ didn’t seem like the best introduction, for some reason. Unfortunately, words were never his line of specialty, and having Daniel try to explain it would probably be a mistake. They were going to have to tell Hammond that there was a snake in his head, and after going that far, how could he expect the General to really believe anything that Daniel might have to say? No doubt he would be less than convinced of the identity of the... mind, within.

*

Sam sat down on a bag that had been laid out inside of the tent. She understood why the Colonel wouldn’t let them do much of anything, but still she wished they could contribute something to this mission, if for no other reason, than to have a distraction. Daniel was feeling much the same way. Neither of them really felt like sleeping, and seriously doubted they could if they tried.

The lack of distraction caused her mind to wander. She lifted up Daniel’s hand, scrutinizing it. It wasn’t hers, wasn’t even part of her body, yet she could move it with hardly a thought, and felt it as surely as she had ever felt her own hand. Sam’s scientific mind couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that, as far as movement was concerned, she may as well be the way she always was. Was it this way with all symbiotes, or was the ease due to the fact that she used to...

She couldn’t finish the thought as she felt herself choke up, tears forming in her... his eyes. She fought against it, acutely recognizing the fact that she was using Daniel’s body, it wasn’t hers even if she was in control. The waterworks display had been done already, before she was completely aware of what was going on. Now that she knew, she couldn’t bring herself to do the act. It would be wrong to Daniel, to use his body like that.

//You’re just giving yourself an excuse. No one would blame you for being upset.// Daniel retorted.

"How can you be so calm about this?" she asked aloud, out of habit. Though her volume was normal, the resonating tones seemed to echo unnaturally in the silence of the tent. She still wasn’t quite used to the fact that she didn’t have to talk aloud for him to hear her.

*I’m inside your head... and this doesn’t bother you?** she amended.

//Not particularly. I WANT to help you, and this was the best way at the time. And, you have to admit, I haven’t had the time to really register what has happened. Neither have you.// he pointed out.

**No,** she admitted. Though she had thought about some of the consequences, it still didn’t feel real to her. It was almost as if she were looking through someone else’s eyes... she didn’t know whether to laugh insanely or sob uncontrollably at her unintentional pun. She could only hope that this was the dream that it felt like, and that she’d wake up from it as quickly as possible. As much as it may have felt like one, though, something told her that this wasn’t a dream.

Why couldn’t they just go out and have a simple mission without anything weird or dangerous happening to them? Most of their missions WERE just that, but when SG-1 got screwed, it was always with a vengeance, nothing mediocre for them. The severity of their mishaps more than made up for the frequency, making her feel like they never got a break.

She was no longer herself, that much was obvious to her, but Sam wasn’t sure what she was anymore. Symbiote was just a name, it didn’t tell her anything except that she wasn’t Human. She was different. But did that difference just end physically? Her brain chemistry had most definitely been altered, so how could she be sure that everything formatted correctly? Maybe the machine was supposed to change her mentally too, make her evil, greedy, Goa’uld. If that were so, then she’d probably never even notice.

//Sam, you’re not evil. Remember that you’re not alone in here. I’d know.// Daniel broke in, when he could contain himself no longer. She had become so deep in thought that she had forgotten he was listening to her, whether he wanted to or not. He could hear her every thought, the idea of which made her involuntarily cringe. Neither of them could ever have true privacy again. Yet another thing she had stolen from him, aside from full custody of his body.

That thought pained her greatly.

God, she just wanted to curl up in the corner and cry herself to sleep. The Colonel certainly wasn’t going to trust her any longer, she was the enemy now. He hated... symbiotes, even the Tok’ra were pretty low on his list. She’d get kicked off the team for sure. Hell, she’d be lucky to stay at the SGC. They probably wouldn’t even believe it was her. As a Goa’uld they’d study her, interrogate her for information she didn’t have. They might even remove her, and then what?

Worse than that was thinking of Daniel. He’d be stuck in the middle of everything, suffer because they wouldn’t believe HER. She didn’t want anything to happen to him, not because of her, not ever. If she knew how to go about it, she’d leave him right now. As it was, though, she was afraid that if she did anything, aside from causing him a lot of pain, she could seriously injure him.

//Stop that! I did this because I didn’t want you to die. You didn’t steal anything. I CHOSE to do this, Sam. I expected this to happen and don’t regret it in the least.// he began, and then continued. //None of that will happen, General Hammond would never allow it. And, if it did, I would want to go through it with you. I won’t abandon you. WE won’t abandon you.// she felt the conviction behind his thoughts, and believed that he and Teal’c would always be there for her. But even with Daniel’s certainty, she couldn’t be sure about the Colonel, just being what she was now put her on his ‘bad’ list. Daniel, of course, thought that she was being completely foolish on that whole matter, and she was forced to reluctantly agree with him, but only just. She still had her doubts.

Teal’c soon entered the tent and sat down in preparation for kel’no’reem. He sat there for several moments as they just watched each other.

"You should be attempting to rest." He finally stated, his tone devoid of any accusation.

"I don’t think that’ll be possible." She replied without thinking. All the mental talking with Daniel, where her thoughts had her ‘normal’ voice, had made her forget that her tone was deeply disturbing, especially to herself. Seemed that she’d been doing a lot of forgetting in these few short hours. God, she hated to talk. Hated this voice she was now forced to have. She could hardly remember a time when hearing it had ever meant good news. Either it was the Goa’uld, or the Tok’ra looking for help against them. Too many bad memories had come from such a voice.

"Indeed," Teal’c replied in understanding, "but the attempt should still be made."

She nodded. He was right. Only as she slid into the sleeping bag did she realize how tired she was. It had taken more out of her… them, than she had first thought.

Sam thought about taking the backseat. When she was in the control she could almost forget about the true body she now inhabited, she had to focus very intently to even feel it. If the Goa’uld felt the same way she had when not in control, she could understand why they would suppress their host, and that was disturbing. She didn’t WANT to understand them, afraid that if she did, as she was now, she just might become as they are. Daniel rebutted that it would never happen, and though she wasn’t as sure as he seemed to be, his support comforted her.

Without the distraction of his body’s input she would be surrounded by the evidence of her position. She would be surrounded by him. Even after she had gotten over the initial shock of it previously, the experience had been far from pleasant. Sam would be wrapped up inside of warm, beating flesh; almost comforting in a disturbing sort of way. It had made her feel rather claustrophobic. She would be stuck inside of a body she still had virtually no idea of how to control, a body that she’d much rather forget ever existed. Sleeping would be hard enough; sleeping like that would be all but impossible.

**Daniel.** she began, feeling deeply ashamed to ask, but not knowing what else to do. She doubted she could even last the night surrounded by his flesh, but how could she just expect him to just step back.

//Go ahead Sam, it’s ok.// she continued to forget that he could hear her thoughts like she could his, getting to wrapped up in musings to truly remember her situation. Unlike her, Daniel explained, he felt more disconnected than anything when not in control, simply unable to move his body. He chuckled at Sam’s hesitance, and even the mental equivalent of the action was comforting.

The horrors of the day seemed to all but melt away, and before either of them knew it they were asleep.

##

//Go!// the plea was desperate.

**No, we will live or die as one. I will not abandon you.** They had been together too long, it wouldn’t end this way.

//Don’t let it win. I can buy you time to escape. Please, we shouldn’t both end now. You are needed.//

**Rosha.** Jolinar gave her own plea.

//If you stay, it will only mean we both die. I want you to live, please Jolinar!//

She relented, her host was right. Nothing good would come out of staying, especially against her wishes. **I will miss you, old friend.**

//And I you, now go.// Jolinar hesitated a few moments, then turned to the older woman beside her. She had actually volunteered, even knowing that the Ash’rak was after her.

"We are ready now." Jolinar informed the older woman.

"Then we should make haste." Bellu responded. The two humans kissed, and Jolinar passed from one to the other.

Bellu felt a moment of weakness as Jolinar wound herself into her mind and body. Rosha was quick to catch the other woman before she fell. Her eyes flashed, announcing that the process was completed, as complete as it would get with the threat of getting caught lingering on all of their minds. Jolinar couldn’t help but focus on the blood that trickled out of the corner of Rosha’s mouth.

"Now go, before all is for naught." Rosha stated, pointing at the Chappa’ai behind them. As Jolinar began pressing the symbols to the next destination, Rosha fled into the forest. For a time the Ash’rak would be fooled, as long as she could stay far enough away that he wouldn’t feel the lack of a symbiote. Jolinar held no illusions though; he would be angered at her audacity.

She would never see Rosha again.

"Goodbye, dear friend. I am sorry." She whispered into the night before stepping through the shimmering vortex.

\--

He had almost killed her. Bellu had barely been able to get through the Chappa’ai, the wounds were so severe. Jolinar did all she could, but it was beyond her powers to repair. They collapsed at the foot of the Chappa’ai, unable to go further. They remained there for over a day, only Jolinar keeping them alive, and even so, just barely. She was determined to live, for Rosha’s sake.

It was lucky that a hunter had found them. She didn’t have time to ask him, couldn’t afford his refusal. So, with the last bit of energy that Bellu possessed, she pulled him down to her. He wasn’t close enough, and his mouth was closed. Without choice, she launched herself at him and entered from the side of the neck.

As she asserted herself within, she tried to calm him. She tried to use the comforting tones that she had learned from Rosha’s memories of her mother, but nothing would work. He fought against her, fear and panic fueling him. Jolinar tried to tell him her plight, assure him that this was the only way and that she would leave him at the first opportunity. But he didn’t understand, and refused to listen. This was not the way the Tok’ra operated, but she had promised Rosha she would live.

**I have no wish to harm you, but I must hide. Please understand.** His thoughts were frantic, incoherent.

She did the only thing she could do. She suppressed him.

\--

Jolinar knew that she would die soon. The Goa’uld attack was swift and deadly, the Nasyan she hid in was severely wounded. He had stopped breathing. She had failed.

Someone was hitting him, and then breathing into his mouth. She couldn’t believe the chance she was being given. It was all she could do to raise his arm and hold the person down as she jumped hosts.

She was even more frantic than the man had been. She also had a better understanding. Again and again the woman thought ‘Goa’uld’.

**I am not Goa’uld!** Jolinar insisted.

"Carter, you alright?" A man asked, Colonel O’Neill.

"He bit his tongue." She supplied to account for the blood, all the while the woman, Samantha Carter, as she gleaned from her memories, fought against her.

//They’ll find you out!//

**They will not.** she couldn’t afford to be caught, by anyone.

##

*

Somehow, Jack had managed to fall asleep. He had thought that it wouldn’t be possible, sharing the same area as them, but looking at Daniel’s form sleeping, he could almost forget that he had a snake in his head, and that Carter was that snake.

But his sleep had been disturbed by something, and it took Jack a few moments to identify the rustling behind him. Soft whimpers and moans, the resonating letting him know it was Carter, began to fill the tent. He sat up in his bag as the sounds got louder and the rustling became thrashing.

"No!" she screamed. Carter’s eyes snapped open and in the darkness of the tent, they glowed. Jack stiffened. Her eyes had glowed. It made it more real than even the voice had. They had synthesizers on Earth, they could make that sound if they wanted to, and did so all the time on training missions. But the eyes were something they couldn’t do. They’d never want to do that anyway, it touched too close to the enemy.

Sure, there were the Tok’ra, but they had been burned by them so many times that it often became hard for Jack to distinguish them and the Gould. Sometimes it seemed like the only difference was their names.

"Carter?" he had no idea what to do. She didn’t answer, and from the firelight that filtered through the material he saw she was staring at the ceiling. Looking out the tent he could see Teal’c’s shadow. He was sitting back down, probably deciding that he couldn’t help the current situation, and if he was needed, that Jack would call him.

"Sam?" he heard Daniel’s voice ask frantically.

"What is it Daniel?" Jack asked. Was there some sort of complication? Should they hightail it back to the ‘gate ASAP?

"Nightmare." Daniel explained, alleviating some of his fears. "Sam!"

But Daniel’s concern quickly cut any comfort the statement had given him. "What’s wrong?" Jack demanded as he began to get up.

"Sam, talk to me." He sounded like he was pleading. "It was a memory of Jolinar’s, shook her up real bad."

"Can’t you hear her thoughts?"

"Yeah, but right now it’s so jumbled I can’t make any sense of it. She’s also trying to block me, I think."

As if they didn’t have problems enough as it was. "What was the dream?"

"Jolinar was running from the Ash’rak. 3 hosts died, Jolinar was so desperate to live. She relived her blending through Jolinar’s eyes. Oh god." Daniel finally concluded.

"What?" Oh god what? He could only imagine how traumatizing that event had been and still was, but what exactly of it did Daniel suddenly realize.

"She had no control. She was helpless to stop Jolinar from doing anything. The grenade, Sam tried so hard to stop her. She KNEW exactly what she was thinking and was going to do, but she couldn’t stop it. Jolinar had been desperate, she would have done almost anything at that point to get home." Jack was beginning to understand, though blowing up that grenade would have been a far cry from ensuring her survival, it would have been quite the opposite actually. But, of course, at that point all rational thought had probably been abandoned. Carter must be afraid of putting Daniel in the same situation: powerless.

"Damn it, Carter! This is completely different, you would never do that." Jack said, not knowing if she could or would hear him.

"Not entirely different, she’s been taken against her will again, just this time she’s not the host." Daniel stated softly.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." Jack responded dryly.

*

Silently Daniel followed Jack out to the fire. Sleep(, he knew,) was something that none of them were going to get the rest of the night.

"Is all well?" Teal’c inquired.

"Carter’s clammed up." Teal’c looked at Jack questioningly. "She’s giving Daniel the silent treatment."

"I see." The jaffa replied dubiously.

"She’s afraid of doing something I’ll regret." Daniel explained.

//Please talk to me.// she didn’t respond to his request, or even make as though she had heard it.

"Major Carter would never do anything that you did not give prior assent to." Teal’c stated confidently.

"I know that, but she doesn’t trust herself."

"Does Major Carter not realize that she hurts you more by this distancing than any action she could take?" It was obvious to Daniel that the words were meant for Sam more than himself. It was true though, he couldn’t stand not being able to help her, to be pushed away. Apparently she did hear the words, he felt her shift slightly.

//Sam.// he tried again.

**Don’t. Not now.** she pleaded. Well, it was something. He knew that pushing her wasn’t going to get them anywhere, so he just let her know he was there for her and left Sam to herself. Well, as much as he could, given that they were in the same body and could hear each other’s thoughts.

"Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I think sleep is out." Jack commented.

"Indeed." Teal’c agreed, and Daniel simply nodded. He tried to ignore Sam’s thoughts, attempting to give her some measure of privacy. It was hard though, like a buzz beneath the surface, sometimes it got just loud enough that he couldn’t help but hear it. For the most part he just caught her emotions. Anger, fear, and frustration all took turns within her. The parts of her thoughts that he did pick up were disjointed and made no sense on their own: ‘hate’, ‘shouldn’t have’, and ‘don’t understand’. But he didn’t ask, just tried to ignore what he did hear and not think about it.

For his part, Daniel did some thinking of his own. He hadn’t really had time to yet, trying to help Sam to cope. As far as he was concerned, he had the easy part anyway; he hadn’t been altered in any way. Of course, at first he had been afraid that it wouldn’t be Sam stuck in his head, but there had seemed little chance of that. If what the alien had said was right, which he really didn’t think about at the time in more than a subconscious way, then if someone/something else had been in there it would have been awoken before they had gotten there.

What was with that alien anyway? How long had it been in there waiting? Was it in some sort of suspended animation? If that was the case then it could have been centuries or even longer. He began to really wonder about this species that would consider getting a symbiote in their head an honor. Didn’t they realize that the person... alien, or however they called themselves, could, if they so desired, simply take control of their body? The alien had said ‘we’, but were they only fooling themselves? Were they still around somewhere? Daniel figured, barring outside help from one of their allies, that the only way to possibly reverse this would be to find the people who made this place. Sadly, though, it looked like they weren’t here, and he couldn’t read any note they may have left as to their whereabouts even if he wanted to.

As he continued to wonder about this newly encountered species, Daniel realized one thing: it was going to be a long time until morning.

*

The rest of the night had lapsed into stretches of uncomfortable silence occasionally broken by awkward attempts at conversation. Unfortunately, attempts at casual talk were difficult to maintain as everyone was distracted by thoughts of the situation. Teal’c wasn’t surprised when everything was packed up and they were ready to depart at the first sight of the sun.

None of them wanted to remain any longer than necessary. It seemed to him they were afraid if they stayed too long that something else would happen. He believed he heard O’Neill mutter something about tempting fate, and had to admit that he definitely didn’t feel too comfortable in this place.

O’Neill took point while Teal’c brought up the rear. He had failed Major Carter in allowing her to touch the statue, an event which he knew would continue to weigh on him heavily. Teal’c had not told O’Neill that it was his fault, telling O’Neill that he blamed himself would have just caused complications at that moment. He would have denied that Teal’c held any blame for events, and he didn’t want to trouble Major Carter and Daniel Jackson to overhear an argument of such content. Teal’c just knew that he should have been able to prevent what had transpired. He was not aware Major Carter’s seemingly clouded judgement, but had seen the blankness in her eyes just before her hand had made contact. He should have found a way to stop her. He could not take back his lack of action, despite how much he wished it, but he could do his part to prevent further harm from falling to any of them.

The walk was silent, Teal’c taking his duty as serious as he ever had. Scanning the surrounding forest for any signs of animal life, or unforeseen inhabitants, that may have the idea of attack, he let his mind clear of any other thoughts. Dwelling on the events, especially while charged with another’s care, was a foolish thing that led to foolish mistakes. It was only the task he charged himself with, though, that even allowed him to push those thoughts aside.

No attacks occurred on the way to the ‘gate. The trip was as eventful as it was talkative.

The large ring never looked so inviting... or foreboding.

"I can’t do this." Major Carter suddenly announced, the dual tones carrying more urgency than he had ever thought possible, as she took a step away.

"Carter..." O’Neill began without turning around, sighing the word.

"They won’t believe it’s me. What about the NID? I don’t want to be studied." Her frantic tone cut right through Teal’c. He was responsible for these fears.

"I will never allow the NID to lay hands you." He responded resolutely. He’d die before letting them near them, and some of them he wouldn’t mind taking along with him. He could think of one name that would be first on the list.

"Don’t worry, Carter. Hammond knows what he’s doing. Forget us, HE’D never let it happen." O’Neill added in a gentler tone, but his exasperation was still evident. Her expression calmed only slightly. Teal’c began to dial in the address for Earth.

"I think that it’d be best if Daniel is in charge, the welcoming committee might get a little jumpy." O’Neill stated. Teal’c saw the wisdom in the idea, it was quite plausible that the SF’s on the other side might act hastily were they to hear her voice.

They watched her head bow as she gave control to Daniel. He knew that someone would have to talk with Daniel Jackson about this current situation; knowing his friend, he didn’t have time enough to even contemplate what had happened to him, offering all of his support to help Major Carter. Eventually that would change, and Teal’c would make sure that they didn’t crash.

The ‘gate opened up in its usual splendor, large blue wave bursting forth before being recalled to the center. O’Neill typed in the iris code into his GDO and received a confirmation, nodding to them that it was safe. He saw Daniel Jackson’s eyes close momentarily, and imagined the reassurances he must have been trying to placate Major Carter with.

O’Neill went through first, Teal’c again bringing up the rear.

*

General Hammond sat behind the large pile of paperwork on his desk. It was a never-ending cycle, he would finish up a batch and more would never fail to follow closely on its heels. He knew more than most that being a general wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

The klaxons came to life just as he was about to sign off on another mission report. Sighing as he got up, he mentally tracked all the current off-world teams. SG-6 had just left on an extended mission to a seemingly friendly planet. SG-9 was finishing up a trade agreement with an advanced metallurgical society and could return at any time. SG-1 still had a full day to finish their mission, and nothing short of a disaster would possibly be able to tear Jackson away from that pyramid.

Call it General’s Instinct, call it intuition, or just plain call it the luck of SG-1. Hammond knew who was coming through. He also knew he was not going to like it.

"Receiving SG-1’s IDC, sir." The technician informed him as he entered the Control Room. For once, he would like to have been wrong. Maybe it would be something trivial... he could only hope.

"Open the iris." He watched as the metal slid back to reveal the shimmering pool underneath.

Colonel O’Neill was the first one to step through, and Hammond couldn’t miss his hesitant pace. Not running from an enemy, at least. But his actions were almost lethargic, like he dreaded each step that brought him further down the ramp. Doctor Jackson came through next, head downcast and absently rubbing at the back of his neck. Neither of them looked happy, but neither could he distinguish what was troubling them both. Teal’c finally stepped through, looking like Teal’c always did, and then the ‘gate disengaged.

Hammond counted the team again, just to be sure.

"Colonel O’Neill, where is Major Carter?" he instantly demanded over the intercom. They weren’t immediately seeking to return to the planet as he would expect if she had been stranded there for some reason or another. Their sluggish movements began to frighten him, though he didn’t allow it to show. She couldn’t be dead, could she?

"Sir, we need to talk," the Colonel began, "in private."

Now his interest was most certainly piqued. What the hell had happened that he just wouldn’t go out and say it? "Very well, Colonel. In my office, now."

He watched as the team relinquished their equipment before making their way out of the Gate Room. Even though he wanted to have this all figured out immediately, Hammond made sure that the team preceded him to the office, trying to keep some of the decorum of a General.

"Ok, Colonel, this had better be good." The General demanded after shutting the door a bit more forcefully than necessary.

Jack looked at him, lowered his head, cleared his throat, looked back up and opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"I’m waiting." He prompted. For all he knew, Carter’s life could be in danger, though if that were the case, he’d expect different behavior from the people before him. Hammond just wanted them to spill it, the suspense was definitely not worth having, especially with potential lives hanging in the balance.

"Well, sir." Jack began, but quickly reached a dead-end.

Answers, all he wanted were a few answers. Was that so much to ask? "Colonel O’Neill... would SOMEONE tell me where the hell Major Carter is?" he all but shouted.

"General Hammond, Major Carter is in fact here with us at this moment." Teal’c began.

Funny, he didn’t see her there. What, was this another invisible, Crystal Skull type deal? "I don’t like guessing, people."

"Ah, well, actually, she’s in me." Jackson stumbled.

He swore, if they skirted the question one more time...

"She’s been turned into a symbiote, sir." Jack finally spilled after seeing the dangerous look in the General’s eye.

"Excuse me?" he didn’t just hear them right, did he?

Doctor Jackson’s head lowered momentarily before raising back up again, coming to attention. "It’s true, sir" a Goa’uld tone replied meekly. He couldn’t help but stiffen at the voice and stare at Doctor Jackson dubiously.

"Major Carter?" he also couldn’t help but ask the question, as stupid as it may be. As if a Gould would admit if was impersonating someone else... unless it somehow improved its situation.

"Yes, sir." Came the reply, Jackson’s head remained focussed on the wall somewhere behind his head, he still couldn’t be sure that it really was the Major. This just wasn’t possible, was it?

"You can’t be serious."

"’Fraid so." the Colonel commented. Despite all that they had seen throughout the years, he still couldn’t believe it.

"How?" Hammond was still too taken aback to form a more constructive sentence.

"We’re not quite sure about the specifics ourselves, sir." O’Neill replied, noticeably more comfortable with the situation, though obviously still not entirely at ease about it.

"I touched a statue, sir, and when I woke up we were like this." The General had been so focussed on the Gould tone, wondering how it could possibly be her, that he almost missed the words themselves, but quickly recovered.

"I?" which I?

"Major Carter." She? replied.

"Major Carter did, in fact, disappear. Another device was discovered and determined to be a means to retrieve Major Carter, by implanting her within someone else." Teal’c began.

"You’re telling me that you just casually used a device that could have been potentially harmful?"

"Not at all, sir. There didn’t seem to be much of a choice, and Daniel had been rather confident of what it was supposed to do." Jack quickly rebutted.

Ok, this was getting to be a bit much for him to process. Hammond knew he’d need some time to assimilate what he had already heard before hearing any more.

"And you’re SURE that this is Major Carter?" the General hoped to get at least one question resolved before bringing this to an end.

"Yes, sir." Jack responded.

"I am certain." Teal’c stated simultaneously. If Jack was sure, then there must be something to it. He was a very skeptical man to begin with. And Teal’c knew the Gould like none other on the base, so his thoughts were worth a lot to the General as well.

The General, after taking a few moments to compose himself, picked up the phone. "Have Doctor Fraiser come to my office."

*

"What?" Janet exclaimed when they had finished their tale. Statues and pyramids and somehow Sam had been turned into a symbiote, it was all too much. It was impossible, yet there was the proof staring her in the face.

"It’s true, doc." Colonel O’Neill affirmed. It didn’t do much to reassure her. Having a parasite in your head was certainly a traumatic experience, but how could anyone cope with becoming one? She had to wonder; if it was indeed Sam inside of Daniel, how she could cope with such an event? Wearing the face of the enemy, so to speak.

When in doubt, slip into doctor mode, she mentally supplied for herself. "Ok, Warner can deal with your post-missions just fine. Doctor, Major, you can come with me. General?"

"Dismissed." He responded and soon his office was empty.

\--

She performed every test she could think of. Blood samples were being examined in the lab, x-rays were drying, and multitudes of other tasks were queued up. There was no real way to keep a lid on this, she knew that nurses would be gossiping before long, despite anything she might try and do to the contrary. There was just too much involved to even consider keeping it from the rest of the base for long. God only knew what would happen then.

"Everything ok?" Daniel asked from his seat on one of the beds. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he had been doing most of the talking.

"I really don’t know," she admitted, sighing, "we haven’t had enough experience to know much of anything about the blending process. All I do know is that Sam’s been turned into a fully adult symbiote. What I don’t get is why you’re vision hasn’t improved any, a symbiote should be able to repair this kind of thing, and I’m not sure what to make of it here." The problem was that she had no idea what she might be looking for, or to expect, and was even less sure of what to do if she found anything. It didn’t help that there were already a few things that didn’t quite add up with the normal profile, as they understood it.

"Well, we do feel fine. I have had glasses practically my whole life, so maybe it’s being considered normal, and therefore being left alone, or maybe healing is done on a conscious level."

"Let’s just hope it’s something that simple." Janet replied. "How are you doing with all this."

"It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I just can’t believe it all." He stated wondrously.

"I couldn’t imagine. How about you, Sam?" she questioned her best friend.

Daniel’s head drooped, and remained downcast. "I keep hoping it’s all just a bad dream." Sam responded in little more than a whisper, cringing at her own voice. She could understand that sentiment. Janet had no idea what she’d do in that kind of situation, and had no desire to find out.

She didn’t have anything to say to it, as desperately as she wanted to help her friends, she didn’t want to give them false platitudes. Needing to do SOMETHING, though, she settled for putting her hand on their shoulder, their as the gesture was for them both, and gave them a small smile.

Looking at the clock she saw that the day had nearly come to a close. "I’d like you to stay in the infirmary tonight, for observation."

"Janet, is that really necessary? It’s been a day and nothing’s happened." Sam informed the doctor, her voice taking on a pleading tone.

"I don’t know..." she began, even with the auditory reminder, she almost forgot the situation before her. The members of SG-1 always tried to fight their way out of the infirmary if possible, the familiarity of the scene obfuscating the true problem at hand.

"My quarters. They’re on this level. Please, Janet, I can’t spend the night here."

Janet had to wonder how much of this was not wanting to be put on public display. If no one else, the nursing staff would know, and no doubt trying to sleep with those kind of curious stares would be disconcerting, to say the least. "Ok, but you will inform someone the instant anything feels different." She would have said wrong, but had figured that anything in their current state would be wrong. Even as it was, different wasn’t a very good word to use either.

"I will." She assured the doctor. Nodding that she had no more tests to run, she watched her friend leave the infirmary with barely disguised haste.

*

Sam almost ran into Teal’c as she exited the infirmary. Janet had kicked the Colonel and him out long ago during the tests, though the former was nowhere in sight. "Hey, Teal’c." she greeted as silently as possible. People were walking by and she didn’t want them to hear her.

"Major Carter," he returned, bowing slightly, "I wish to offer my assistance in anything you or Daniel Jackson may require."

"Thanks, but if it’s all the same to you, I think I’d rather be alone right now." He bowed his head again at her reply.

"Then I shall take my leave. I wish you well." She watched him turn the corner. An airman walked by, and Sam swore that he stared at her longer than the situation would require. He must know, she thought.

//You’re reading too much into it.// Daniel tried.

But the entire walk, as short as it may have been, to her quarters seemed to be filled with lingering stares. Everyone she saw stared, or at least that’s what her mind supplied. They all knew what she was now, hated her for it.

//That’s not true.//

**God, I’m a SNAKE, Daniel! How could anyone NOT hate me?** she retorted as she slammed the door shut, finding some measure of safety in her room. At least she couldn’t see their faces in there.

//I don’t hate you.// the statement gave her pause for a moment. He was Daniel, more understanding than most. Of course he wouldn’t hate her.

//Teal’c doesn’t hate you.// he continued in response.

**He has one in his gut, his situation is just a little bit different than anyone else's on this base.**

//Jack doesn’t.// she had to laugh at that one. The Colonel certainly seemed to be trying to help, her own mental sarcasm causing her to snort. Teal’c had waited for her at the infirmary, told them quite plainly that he’d be there to do anything they needed him to do. Apparently HE, however, hadn’t seen the need to be around more than he was forced to, which only went to support her previous hypothesis. He hated her... at the very least he distrusted her.

**Could have fooled me...**

*

Sam laid down in the bed, effectively ending their little dialogue. Sadly, Jack wasn’t giving him much of an argument against her accusations. Even though Daniel knew it weren’t so, it certainly LOOKED like she was right. Jack was better than that, though. Sure, he had a problem with the Tok’ra as well as the Goa’uld. With all that had happened, who could blame him? He got along fine with Jacob, but then again he and Selmak never did much talking.

//Sam.// he tried, even though she had made it clear she didn’t want to talk.

**Daniel, I want to go to sleep, ok?** she deflected, and he felt frustration radiate from her.

//You’re not being fair to him.// This situation was a lot for ANYONE to take in, Jack was still acclimating like they were.

**Not being fair to him?** she shot back in disbelief. She was right, he wasn’t being fair to her either.

//Just, calm down and give it some thought. Maybe once you’ve gone over it with a cooler head you might see that your being too hard on him.// well, he could try, couldn’t he?

Suddenly Daniel found himself in control.

//What are you doing?//

**Going to sleep.** she stated with finality. He mentally kicked himself. He had come up with nothing to defend Jack with. A whole lot of circumstantial evidence against him, though. She was hurt. As far as Sam could see, her CO didn’t trust her anymore, saw her as nothing more than another damned snakehead, Jack certainly hadn’t tried to say otherwise. She shuddered at the term, the movement feeling odd, but not painful, to Daniel.

//You don’t have to do this.// he continued. They had already established that she didn’t do the in-body experience too well.

**I’ll have to learn sometime.**

//Sam, this won’t be permanent. I’ll figure out those writings and we’ll find the builders.// He did it again, forgot that she could hear his thoughts. He’d been thinking about the writings most of the day, and sadly concluded that, without some sort of reference or starting place, he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere.

He tried to apologize, but Sam was giving him the silent treatment again.

Deciding that at this point he could only try to get some sleep, Daniel sighed and wondered what exactly they had done to deserve this.

*

Thinking about anything BUT the position she was in, Sam had managed to fall asleep. Something, however, was pulling her from a surprisingly restful state that had included no dreams to haunt her. As consciousness returned she began to feel a dull ache.

Daniel was still asleep, dreamless, as she had been. Not wanting to wake him, she calmed herself. The pain wasn’t bad, just annoying at the moment. With revulsion she searched for the source. It was the first time she had really examined her body and it was worse than she had imagined. Everything was wrong, the structure was so different to a human’s body that she still didn’t know how to control everything, she didn’t even know where everything was or what it did, not that she tried too much, considering the pain it seemed to cause Daniel.

Sam couldn’t help but get caught up in her new self, actually taking the time to try and understand a little better. Starting with the tendrils that were woven inside of Daniel’s brain, she decided that they kind of felt like arms, though the comparison was shaky at best. Arms had joints and bones, but the tendrils had neither, simply flexible throughout as evidenced by their positions inside of his brain. Actually acknowledging consciously that she was, quite literally, wired into his brain made her wince, which translated more into a sudden contraction of her muscles. There were so many of the tendrils, that actually focussing on one was all but impossible to her. It would probably come with time, but she didn’t want to be in this state long enough to figure it out.

Skipping any thoughts on her head, that was still far too disturbing for her to even consider, she tried to find some sort of parallel for the body itself. It was so foreign to anything she could compare it to from a human that she found herself at a loss. Though it was essentially a spine, it still wasn’t quite the same. Firstly, she didn’t know of any normal person that would be able to contort themselves as she could, though her position didn’t really give her room to try. Also, the fact that it pretty much doubled as legs left her very disheartened. It definitely made her glad that she had been immediately put inside (of) Daniel. She didn’t want to think about herself slithering... - who was she kidding, she wouldn’t have the slightest clue how to slither - to think about herself writhing on the floor. That would have just been far too much.

Getting back on track, she found that the pain emanated from her middle, what the structure was she could only hazard to guess. It wasn’t so bad, besides, she really didn’t want to wake up Daniel and have him worry. Having to spend more time in the infirmary really wasn’t high on her list of wants either. Hoping it was just a cramp of some sort that would disappear by morning, she ignored it and tried to fall back to sleep.

*

Daniel awoke with a start as he was pushed aside. With the lingerings of sleep clouding his thoughts it took him several moments to figure out what was going on. By that time he saw that Sam had his body curled up with hands wrapped tightly around his waist. She whimpered and through the connection he could feel the pain she was in.

//Sam?// what the hell was going on?

Her mind was racing, and all he could understand were thoughts about the pain.

//Call for someone!// he advised. Something definitely wasn’t right.

**Hurts! Oh god, it hurts!** She was scared out of her mind, that much he knew, and felt the same way. This was definitely not normal, and definitely wasn’t good.

//I know. You need to call for help. Just scream, someone outside will hear you.// he tried to remain calm, knowing that he had to be if he wanted her to calm down. She was holding back the cries; even in this potentially very serious situation she didn’t want others to know about her. Her resonating cry would be proof enough to anyone who didn’t already know. //Sam, you need to do this!//

She was hesitant, but it was only a thought of what her situation might do to him that allowed her to cry out. As much as she was afraid of distrusting looks, she couldn’t bring herself to endanger him. They must have had a guard at the door, because an airman was in there in an instant.

"Doctor Jackson?" she asked uncertainly, then added with hesitation, "Major Carter?"

"Janet! Hurts!" was all that Sam could manage in reply.

The airman rushed to the intercom. "Medical emergency in Major Carter’s quarters!" The poor woman didn’t know what to do, obviously a bit more than hesitant to touch them. She stood there with an uncertain look on her face as they waited for the medics to get there. Apparently, though, the woman felt that she had to do something, so she talked to them in a shaky voice. "Try to stay calm, they’ll be here shortly."

Janet and a pair of medics were in the room less than a minute later. She pushed the airman aside and rushed to their side. "Sam? Daniel?"

"Make it stop!" Sam pleaded. Daniel wished he could do something, but all he could do was watch and try to sooth her, for all that it was worth. The pain throbbed incessantly, radiating out from her midsection. Even though it couldn’t help her situation at all, she kept his arms clutched tightly around his chest reflexively.

One of the medics had taken her wrist, prying it away from her body and held it for a few moments. "Pulse is racing, ma’am."

He decided that it was easier to think of body parts as ‘hers’ when she was in control.

"Sam, you have to talk to me. Tell me what’s going on." Janet stated urgently.

"It hurts! It hurts so badly!" tears had long since begun to trace paths down her cheeks.

"You hurt, or is it Daniel’s body?" Janet clarified. His body was fine, but he could feel her pain as keenly as if it were his own. The rippling agony in her midsection was crippling.

"I... me." She gasped in reply. Janet immediately ordered them to be put on the awaiting gurney and they raced back to the infirmary as fast as possible.

*

Jack had heard the call over the intercom and was immediately out of his quarters and on his way to the infirmary. The whimpers of pain, reverberating whimpers, had been clearly audible in the background. When he got there he found Teal’c already waiting outside.

"What is it?" he asked as he came to a stop by the larger man.

"I do not know. I have not been allowed to see Daniel Jackson and Major Carter." In the brief moment of silence Jack heard the muffled cry come from inside.

"How long has that been going on?" the fact that she was still crying out in pain had him worried. Shouldn’t the doc have given her some happy juice by now?

"As long as I have been here."

They waited outside several minutes, unable to block out the agonized cries that filtered to their ears. A nurse popped her head out, the open door allowing them to hear the pain filled sobs that much more clearly.

"She’s asking for you, Mr. Teal’c." the woman held the door for him to enter. Jack stepped forward to follow, but her small hand stopped him.

"Excuse me." He stated, but had a fair idea what was to come.

"I’m sorry, sir, but Doctor Fraiser doesn’t want to crowd Major Carter or Doctor Jackson." She held a look of sympathy, but very obviously wouldn’t be swayed.

"I’m their CO. I don’t think my presence will clog anything up." He replied, his eyes darkening noticeably.

"Sir, I’m sorry, but its doctor’s orders." The nurse obviously feared the doc’s retribution more than his, which, with her healthy supply of large needles, might not be wrong.

"Fine." He snapped, deciding that it was probably Carter’s wishes more than Fraiser’s herself. If his 2IC didn’t want to see him, and she had every right not to after what he had done, then he’d make it easy on her. It didn’t bother him, really. Turning sharply, he made his way to the gym.

*

Teal’c rushed to Major Carter’s side and took her hand (hand). She gripped it firmly, squeezing even harder when the pain peaked. Janet gave her some of the sedative they had created, with the help of his symbiote when they had tried to remove the Goa’uld from Kawalsky, to try and ease her pain. It didn’t help much, not being that well developed to begin with, along with the intensity of the pain she was feeling, and the relief it did offer was extremely short lived. She was loath to give her more just yet; not knowing whether or not the drug may exacerbate the problem.

The whimpers and moans of pain that came from her were most gut wrenching. He noticed that the nurses didn’t seem to know how to feel about the noise, whether to be disturbed or feel pity. The mixture of the 2 emotions on their faces was most displeasing, seeming to settle mostly on disturbed. Teal’c would have said something, but Major Carter’s eyes were screwed shut as tightly as her grip on his hand, and bringing her attention to the problem would only serve to cause her more harm, though it would be of a mental nature.

The doctor’s frustration was more than evident to him and everyone else in the room. She glanced at one of the x-rays hanging over the light, running her hand wearily through her hair and let out a deep sigh. Despite the tests she had run, she was still no closer to knowing what was going on than she had been in the beginning.

"Doctor Fraiser, could not General Carter be of some assistance?" Teal’c suggested as he wiped the Major’s brow with his unoccupied hand.

"Couldn’t hurt to try. I certainly am not getting anywhere." She picked up the phone on the wall. "General. No, sir, I don’t know what’s going on. No, sir. Teal’c thought of contacting the Tok’ra. Yes, sir, Jacob may know what’s happening. Not long, sir. Whatever it is is getting worse. I don’t know." He didn’t have to hear both sides of the conversation to get the basic idea of what General Hammond had said.

"They are contacting the Tok’ra?"

"As we speak." Doctor Fraiser replied hopefully.

"Is there not more we can do for them?" Teal’c didn’t like seeing his friends in such pain. Major Carter was to the point of moaning incoherently.

"Short of administering drugs to whose effect I could only guess, we can’t do a thing. I’m going to look at the scans again." She informed him wearily.

"I will notify you of any change." He replied to the silent request.

"Thanks, Teal’c."

Her grip on his hand had not slackened, and it threatened to lose feeling. Teal’c didn’t adjust the position, any discomfort to him was trivial at this point. He wanted to hurt, it would only be fitting, as he was responsible for the pain that Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were both feeling.

What frightened Teal’c was that he had never seen this happen before in all of his time serving the Goa’uld. To him that meant that the device must have failed in some way, if it had ever been fully functioning. This knowledge caused his jaw to set; he’d be responsible for Major Carter’s death, and maybe even Daniel Jackson’s as well.

*

Jack hit the punching back without restraint, his hands quickly becoming numb. With each contact he repeated the mantra ‘it doesn’t bother me.’ It didn’t bother him one bit that his 2IC, didn’t want to see him. That she could be dying that very moment and not want him to be there. Wasn’t a problem in the slightest.

Finally losing feeling in his right hand, he stopped. The bag swung wildly from it’s mount, a testament to the force with which it had been worked. Someone who might try to stop it without being properly braced would probably find himself on the ground.

Still, the exercise had done nothing to relieve the frustration of the ‘not’ problem. All it had given him were some very stylish bloody knuckles.

Ok, he finally decided to admit it to himself, he was pissed. He had tried to be there for her, for both of them, but she wouldn’t let him. Wouldn’t at least Daniel have wanted him to be there? Did he, and then acquiesced to her wishes, or did Carter not tell anyone what he wanted? He had been sure that she wouldn’t do such a thing before, but now he couldn’t be so sure. Though he didn’t believe that he deserved to be with them, he would have at least thought that one of them wanted him to be there.

Well, two could play at that game.

*

Selmak watched as Aldwin hastily entered her room. The younger Tok’ra’s eyes were wild and his look urgent. "What is it that motivates you to such speed?" the old Tok’ra queried, already knowing that whatever his message was, it couldn’t be good.

"The Tau’ri have just made contact. General Hammond has stated that there is a serious problem and Jacob’s daughter requires your assistance." The young man replied, slightly out of breath.

Immediately, Jacob took control. "What’s wrong?"

"He said only that it was of the utmost importance that you go to Earth as soon as is possible and that he would inform you there."

Jacob was on his way to the transport rings before the other man could blink.

**This does not sound good at all.** Selmak stated as the man rushed through the halls, pushing aside anyone who was in his way.

//That’s the understatement of the century.// It wasn’t like George to be cryptic, that much Jacob knew. That only meant things were worse than even the message itself had implied.

**I only hope that we are truly able to offer assistance in this matter.** Even though a symbiote and host love as one, Selmak had a special place in her heart for Sam that was separate from his fatherly love. The old Tok’ra respected her greatly as a strong and certain woman.

//No kidding.//

\--

Jacob was through the ‘gate and down the ramp the instant that a confirmation came through on the GDO. "What’s going on, George?" he immediately asked without preamble.

"Walk with me to the infirmary, we’ll talk on the way." He fell in step with the larger man.

"So, what’s wrong with Sam?"

"We’re not sure. That’s the problem." George responded. Jacob didn’t even notice the personnel scattering against the two Generals, like waves breaking against the bow of a ship, as they bounded down the halls, just barely able to be considered walking.

"What do you mean you’re not sure?" The elevator was empty save for the two of them as they made their way up to the infirmary level. Anyone else who had thought to use it had been scared off by the serious looks on the generals’ faces.

"Well, there’s no easy way to say this, Jacob. Major Carter’s been turned into a symbiote."

Even Selmak was taken aback by the statement. "What?"

"On their latest mission SG-1 came in contact with some sort of device. Subsequently, Major Carter was transformed into a symbiote and is now inside Doctor Jackson."

*Do not allow this news to distract us, Jacob. There is obviously more to the story than has yet been told.** Selmak warned, sensing the man’s agitation.

"And there’s another problem." Jacob concluded. It was only Selmak’s guidance that allowed him to maintain some semblance of calm, and not get stuck on what had happened to Sam. He focussed on the problem at hand, though neither was sure what that was yet.

"All we really know is that she’s in a lot of pain." Hammond stated gravely.

//You know what this is?// Jacob asked, feeling Selmak jump slightly.

**I may. If I am right then we must act quickly.** a feeling of foreboding wafted from her.

Jacob’s head bowed and Selmak retook control. "I will do what I can to help Samantha."

The rest of the walk to the infirmary was done in silence. Well, as far as George was concerned at least.

//I can’t believe this.//

**Please, we must not dwell on such things now. Be calm, we cannot afford distractions.** That was enough to silence Jacob, but only because his daughter depended on it.

Selmak burst through the infirmary doors without slowing, and made her way to the back of the infirmary where the cries of a symbiote were emanating.

//No!// the obvious agony ripped through him, and at the moment he didn’t even think about the fact that the sounds were wrong and the body was Daniel’s. She was hurting, and by all that Selmak had imparted to him was in very serious danger, and they had to stop it.

"Samantha." Selmak began, but received no other response than the pained cries that reverberated off of the walls.

"Major Carter, Selmak is here to help you. You must listen." Teal’c stroked her forehead to gain her attention.

Her eyes popped open, red rimmed and desperate. "Dad?"

"Your father and I have come as soon as possible. We must work quickly, describe to me your pain." Selmak soothed.

"It hurts so much, please, make it stop!" Selmak had to silence Jacob when tears began to run down her face, obviously not for the first time.

"You must tell me where it hurts, time is essential."

"Middle... hurts." Sam’s face screwed up against a particularly painful moment.

**It is as I feared.** Selmak informed him. It was a situation that any symbiote would never allow themselves to reach, as it was very dangerous. Only certain, and very rare, illnesses could cause such a thing. Or, in Sam’s case, not knowing what to do.

"I will attempt to explain this to the best of my ability. A symbiote’s body creates wastes like any other creature. These toxins will build up to dangerous levels unless the body is purged. It is a process that I understand is most complex compared to many other species. A symbiote, of course, finds no trouble in this. But as Samantha was not born one, I assume she doesn’t know what to do."

//You mean to say that her bladder is full and she needs to release it?// Jacob tried to compare it to something he knew, any humor or disgust the analogy would normally give him was gone, the situation was too serious for such thoughts.

**It is similar. Like with humans the act is so trivial as to be almost purely unconscious. For that reason explaining it will be difficult and I will require your assistance for certain terms.**

"What must be done?" Teal’c asked.

"Samantha, can you feel the organ that causes you pain?" her head nodded slowly in response. "I believe the trick in this is that you must do many things simultaneously to begin the purge. If you feel you should find 3... valves that seal the holding pouch. Do you feel them?"

"Yes." She replied after a shallow breath.

"Good. They must be opened in tandem. I am unsure how to describe this action, as it is something that a symbiote would never ponder on, but you must try."

Sam’s eyes scrunched shut in reply. Her ragged breathing filled the room.

"Concentrate." Selmak encouraged.

//Come on, Sam, you can do it.// Jacob added, though she couldn’t hear him.

Teal’c seemed to convey strength to her through their tightly clasped hands. It was several minutes before her features relaxed.

//Did she do it?//

**Yes, she will be fine.** Selmak assured.

"Sam?" Jacob asked when Selmak stepped back, taking up her other hand.

"Dad." She offered him a tired smile and gripped his hand weakly.

**Do not be worried, all she needs is some rest.**

"How you feeling?"

"Much better. Tired."

"Selmak says you’ll be just fine. Just make sure you don’t let it get to that stage again. You rest and we’ll talk more later." He settled for giving her a warm smile, the fact that she was inside Doctor Jackson just coming to mind. He didn’t feel too comfortable hugging another man.

**You humans; so self-conscious with your emotions.**

//Hey, just because Saroosh was so ‘free’ doesn’t mean I will be.// Now that the danger was over, the relief was making him feel giddy.

**That is true, but I also found Saroosh to be far more entertaining to be with.** Selmak joked back.

//Don’t make me turn this car around, young lady.//

Selmak chuckled. **I have not been called a young lady in many centuries.**

*

"So, she’s going to be ok?" Jack asked. He still hadn’t been to the infirmary, rather he was sworn against it... it had been made very clear that he was not wanted there. Still, it didn’t stop him from wondering, even if thinking about the rejection did make him angry. Of course, he admitted to himself, he had no reason to be angry. It WAS his fault.

"Just fine, why don’t you see for yourself." Jacob replied from the other side of the briefing table, unaware of the other man’s thoughts.

"Does Selmak know anything about the race that apparently built this device?" Hammond asked.

"No. The Tok’ra were never aware of such a place existing before now." Jacob told him.

"And you don’t know any way to reverse the process." Jack supplied.

"I wish we did. After I talk with Sam I’m going to go back to the Tok’ra and see if we can’t figure anything out. You will let me know if anything happens, right George?" Jacob asked.

"Of course." The General assured him.

*

Sam laid on the infirmary bed staring at the wall in front of her. She didn’t know how to feel at this point. Even her father had seemed a little uncomfortable around her, not making much physical contact... not that they had been big on that before.

//Anyone would be thrown for a loop by this. You know it doesn’t mean anything. Probably had more to do with me than you.// Daniel stated in an amused tone.

She had to smile at the thought Daniel conjured up: her dad’s nervous expression as he hugged Daniel, and quickly took it back. Her father definitely wasn’t that type of guy, so the fact that he hadn’t done it was understandable.

//Bet Selmak had her hands full just then.// he continued in jest, preferring her smiles to the dour mood she had only moments ago.

She appreciated his efforts, but was in a more contemplative mode at the moment. They could have died, from what her father had told her when she asked, Daniel wouldn’t have survived either. This new insight she had into a symbiote’s workings had her more depressed than ever, she figured the more she knew the longer this arrangement would be fore. Perhaps even for the rest of her life, something she didn’t want for either her or Daniel. She had to wonder if this was how she’d be forced to spend the rest of her days.

TBC

**The End**

  


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> Author's Notes: Ok, this is definitely the deepest piece I’ve done to date. It’s a topic I’ve been pondering for quite some time, and when it seemed that no one else was ever going to do anything with it, I finally wrote it up. Would LOVE to hear what you think about this piece. PLEASE!!!! Huge thanx and lots of love to Kalliope for the quick and most excellent beta, and jadestar for her Of course, any lingering mistakes are purely my own.

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>   
>  © April 2004 Not mine… No $. I’m just borrowing for a bit but I’ll give   
>  ‘em right back I swear.

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